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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23364325">Star Wars: Order of the Dawn</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/maxyourpersonalstarwarsnecromancer/pseuds/maxyourpersonalstarwarsnecromancer'>maxyourpersonalstarwarsnecromancer</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dark Reylo, Other</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 04:40:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,774</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23364325</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/maxyourpersonalstarwarsnecromancer/pseuds/maxyourpersonalstarwarsnecromancer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!’<br/>Warning, if errors bother you then wait to read the revised chapters, I write these on my phone (yep....) and post the raw unedited versions first. Then I have multiple eyes pointing out my mistakes, feedback always welcome.<br/>Premise: (after ROS) a mysterious new planet is discovered on the outskirts of the system. This planet is dead, it neither turns nor responds to the pull of the mysterious black star the burns next to it. The force is strong here, and no ship can go anywhere near the planet without shattering upon what appears to be an invisible wall. A force. The planet is burning and molten where it faces the sun. The planet is frozen on the opposing side.<br/>Rey hears a voice on the wind. Bens voice, quiet but unmistakable. However she cannot see him, and while she can commune with even the oldest of Jedi, she cannot call upon Ben. At least not at will.<br/>A new disturbance of the force is felt throughout the universe, and Rey begins to have visions of ... Ben and a woman cloaked in red. She is strong with the force, but the good within her is rivaled by an overwhelming darkness.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 1:<br/>He felt a cold wet tickle along the top of his foot. Swaying up and down like.... water? <br/>That’s what it sounded like. <br/>water dripping in a ...cave? Maybe.</p>
<p>The confused man tried to open his eyes discreetly and see where he was. He could hear breathing too, and something or someone was moving around nearby. He was suddenly aware of his own breathing noises.<br/>There was some sort of scaly slippery foliage tangled around him in the water, his left side felt significantly warmer than the right. the room or cave surrounding him was the same way. Ice slicked around the walls of the right side while the left seemed to give off waves of heat. The man saw a blurry flash of red move behind his head and quickly closed his eyes again. He focused on not moving.<br/>Where was he? The man thought to himself.<br/>Who was in here with him?<br/>He waited until the noises echoing around the cave settled and all he could hear was the slight noises of the water. He eased himself out of the tangled vines and slowly, quietly, sat up. <br/>A woman lay asleep on an uncomfortable looking stone ledge. She was pale, freckled, and covered in black and red tribal markings from what he could see underneath her red hooded dress. She made faces in her sleep, like she was struggling with a thought, or two. <br/>The man pushed back his long black hair and looked at his surroundings. There was one exit/entrance to this part of the cave, it was so long and dark he couldn’t see the opening to any of the outside world.<br/>The pale black-haired man looked at his hands, his bare feet, legs, arms, and lifted his hands to touch his face, as if he were looking for something there. It wasn’t...<br/>That’s when he felt a cold blade at his throat. <br/>The woman slowly walked around him keeping the blade still.<br/>“Who are you?” <br/>The woman asked.<br/>Her hood had fallen to reveal a lightly freckled face and a fluffy mane of hair. The markings were also on her chin and lower lip, and her eyes were a golden brown that seemed to glow at times.<br/>The man didn’t answer.<br/>The woman tilted her head as if reading him.<br/>“you can’t decide?” She asked in realization<br/>“What do you mean” he asked “where am I”<br/>“Don’t know” she answered <br/>“I’ve been trapped here for.... (she counted with her fingers) .... years... I think. Maybe forever?”<br/>“You don’t remember how you got here?”<br/>He asked.<br/>“Do you?” she asked back, tilting her head even lower.<br/>“Oh well” she said, suddenly changing her attitude.<br/>She dropped the knife and it bounced off the ground nearly going through the man’s bare foot. She turned around and headed back towards her ledge. <br/>The man looked at her exasperated. “Hey!” <br/>The woman picked up what looked like a piece of bark and started chewing on it loudly<br/>“You should probably find some... pants” she said, staring directly at, him.<br/>“There’s some dead body’s further in the cavern.” She was laughing “I bet they wouldn’t mind if you borrowed some.” She was dead serious now…<br/>The man stood there looking at her... this woman was rather odd, was she sane? How long has she been trapped here? What was she eating? And what were those markings all over her? <br/>she began singing... quietly<br/>The man started walking further into the cavern, hoping to indeed find something to wear.<br/>“Don’t wonder too far” she said with an evil sounding giggle.<br/>The dark-haired man ignored her. She was likely insane. Not a threat. He was careful where he stepped, the temperature seemed to change drastically underneath his feet if he went too close to the edge of the cavern tunnel. The rocks in the cave glowed and flickered as if there were a flame inside some of them. <br/>As he stepped further and further, he began to see the silhouettes of bodies frozen along the left walls. On The right side, there was only a pile of dust and some stale bones. <br/>The man took a large step to the left and instantly regretted it.<br/>“Ahhh” he yelled. As his foot touched the frozen stone beneath it.<br/>His foot stuck a little bit to the ground as he quickly picked it up. Some of the skin tore off and instantly formed a sliver of flesh colored ice on the slick rock beneath.<br/>The man stood on one foot for a while, thinking about what he would do next. He needed clothes, if only he could reach the frozen corpse across the room.<br/>“Use the force” said a voice in his head <br/>The man smiled. “Of course,” he thought. How could he forget? <br/>He lifted his hand, waited, tried, and then dropped it.<br/>He took a deep sharp breath. <br/>Then he tried again.<br/>The corpse flew at him, quickly and knocked him to the ground.<br/>The dark-haired man shoved the corpse off of him, swearing underneath his breath. He gingerly started peeling away the robe and trousers from the dead man’s frozen flesh. The air from the warmer end of the cavern helped soften the fabric.<br/>The dark-haired man pushed back his long, slightly (and annoyingly) wavy hair and put on the newly acquired clothes. They were damp and smelled. He looked around for anything else he might need. <br/>That’s when he noticed a light saber beyond where the corpse once was sitting.<br/>He once again lifted his hand to command the force. “No!” A voice shouted clearly in his head. It was Luke’s voice, and everyone else’s voices, they chimed again “No!” <br/>The man started to sweat, the smell of his clothes, and the pain in his head became unbearable. He promptly collapsed onto the floor.<br/>He was weak. He saw glimpses of the girl standing above him, frost on her eye lashes and along the edge of her red hood. Her cold fingers tapped his shoulder. She spoke, but he couldn’t hear it, and then the world was gone. <br/>He saw Rey. Her was hair longer now but still tied up like it normally would be. She was on a mission to find something, food. She was... it looked like she was on Tatooine. Rey paid for and started eating what looked like a roasted foot. Street food, it didn’t look great. He took a deep breath. <br/>Rey stopped eating and looked around her. She had such a funny look on her face. He laughed.<br/>Rey instantly went pale and looked around once more. She had heard it, his deep voice. Suddenly he realized she could hear him.<br/>“Rey...” he said his low voice as commanding as it always was.<br/>Rey dropped her food; her eyes round and almost tearful.<br/>“Ben?” <br/>She said softly<br/>She looked around. Nothing.<br/>“Ben solo!” She yelled<br/>Everyone stopped and looked at her.<br/>Ben wanted to call out to her again, but he couldn’t. The world went black.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 2<br/>Ben blinked, awake. At first, he thought he saw Rey standing above him. But then he realized it was that strange red hooded woman.<br/>He was still in that damned cave! He had seen Rey. He could still hear her, Smell her. Almost touch her-and she’s heard him! She reacted to him. She called Ben’s name. His name, although he wasn’t yet sure he deserved that name. <br/>Ben sat up. The woman was chewing on that bark like substance again. He let out a sharp breath, frustrated. <br/>“Can you please BACK OFF?” he asked<br/>The woman stopped, tilted her head, she was crouching with her hands on her knees and looked rather unnatural. She looked almost like a bird. <br/>“Who is Rey?” She asked, wiggling her eyebrows.<br/>Ben didn’t respond. He attempted to stand, but instantly felt dizzy and returned to a seated position. He sighed angrily.<br/>What in the universe had happened to him?<br/>“What is your name?” He asked sharply<br/>The woman shrugged “I don’t know” then put her hand on her chin. “I’ve never needed one down here?”<br/>Ben seemed irritated “down here?” He gestured dramatically. Paused.<br/>“So, we’re below ground?” He asked sharply.<br/>She shrugged again. <br/>“Do you know anything?” Ben was growing more irritated.<br/>“You look like your father when your angry” she said shrugging.<br/>Her statement created a painful awareness of hope, and sadness. <br/>“My father? Han Solo? He was here?”<br/>“He left... those.” She said as she gestured towards a pair of aurodium coated dice sitting by the ledge.<br/>She watched him, and a smile formed on her face that almost looked evil.<br/>Ben picked them up, studied them, cherished them. He closed his hand around the dice possessively and looked at the woman. “Where did he go?”<br/>She didn’t answer. She just stared at him. Blinked, and continued staring.<br/>Ben stepped closer to her<br/>“Where. Did. He. Go.?”<br/>She still didn’t answer.<br/>The woman backed away from Ben, walking further into a cavern. She accidentally stepped too far to the side and you could hear her wince as she burned the bottoms of her feet. <br/>Ben grabbed her by the wrist. “Where...”<br/>She tried to pull away, but he didn’t let go.<br/>The cavern rumbled…<br/>Her eyes started glowing white in anger. The room began to shake and the pool where he was when he had initially awakened from started to glow and bubble.<br/>Still Ben kept hold of her. The woman’s eyes started to turn even more white and angry and veins took over her face.<br/>With the force she effortlessly threw him to the ground. She then turned around and dove into the small glowing pool. <br/>Ben struggled to rise as the room was still quaking. The sound of the moving earth was deafening, and he felt dizzy. He clumsily dove into the pool after her. <br/>Ben untangled himself from the foliage and slimy sticky vines that cling to him. He didn’t realize the pool was this deep, it just kept going and going. The water felt odd too, as if it grew thicker the further, he swam into it. Up ahead he saw glowing orbs, thousands of them, some big and some small. They were still too small yet to inspect in detail. <br/>Some looked blue while others looked red. They were bright and illuminated the liquid around him, reflected off of the rocks above and below. Turning the pool into a kaleidoscope of light and reflection. They almost looked like galaxies, planets, stars. <br/>Ben looked around, he saw it, her red dress oddly still, moving only with the flow of the water. “Had she drowned?” He thought.<br/>Ben swam faster, struggling against the water that seemed to grow thicker and thicker. He knew that if he didn’t hurry, he might drown himself. <br/>He approached the red woman, but Something was off. <br/>She just didn’t look right, so still, almost like she had no form at all. <br/>He grabbed at the red fabric, and it folded under his hand condensing into a floating swirl of red. She wasn’t here, it was just the dress. Ben looked around.<br/>The water was still, silent, and eerily charged with something powerful. Ben could feel a pressure building on his breastbone, a force. A blow. <br/>Suddenly his body was slammed into the floor. Ben lost all the air in his lungs, his body started burning and he struggled with the pain of needing to breathe. <br/>The dust around him had been stirred up, making it nearly impossible for him to see. <br/>He could sense her, strong and angry and getting closer to him as his body was pressed harder into the floor. Then, as the dust settled, he saw her.<br/>She had abandoned the red dress, her body free and unrestricted by all but a few Cream-colored underthings wrapped delicately around her. The tattoos from her chin extended down specking her throat and along her breastbone, inside her belly danced a yellow and blue light. Yet, she was breathing, somehow…<br/>The water shuttered, as if Ben were trapped in an aquarium and a child were tapping in the glass. Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. Ben felt as if the ground was beginning to swallow him. It was. <br/>What appeared to look like tar, hot and angry swallowed his arms and legs. Trapping him. Restraining him. <br/>Bens lungs began to burn. “I need to breath” he thought as he grimaced. Painfully trying not to give in and inhale the water.<br/>The woman’s voice invaded his mind “then breathe” she said, a sinister tone to her voice. He could hear her laughing.<br/>Her skin and hair turned a ghostly white and the woman rushed towards Ben, grabbing him by the throat, the other hand on his chin attempting to pull his mouth open. <br/>“Breath it all in!” She commanded.<br/>And ugly smile on her face...<br/>The woman stopped moving, and the smile faded <br/>All sound faded ...<br/>And then he heard. Her...<br/>“Ben...” her voice said hopefully, as it echoed through his head.<br/>“Ben!” He felt her hands on his shoulders. He could hear her breathing, hear the sand as it blew in the wind.<br/>“Ben!!”<br/>Everything was gone.<br/>There she was, sitting in front of him, on the bed, in the middle of the night, he was soaking wet. Shivering, not believing his eyes. <br/>She put her hand on his face, tears were in her eyes. She looked him over and over not believing what she was seeing. She took a breath. <br/>“Ben I...” she started<br/>“I know...” he interrupted his voice deep the sound filling their minds with its echo, he took a breath. <br/>“Rey I-“ he stopped talking- something was wrong. Rey’s face looked funny.<br/>Suddenly Rey started coughing up liquid. She was choking on water. She couldn’t breathe. Ben grabbed her by the sleeve and pulled her closer<br/>“Rey!” He yelled, as she was sputtering.<br/>With his other hand he reached out to her face but then he was pulled back into the darkness, taking a piece of Rey’s sleeve with him.<br/>Ben was the one choking now, his lungs were burning for air. The more the woman in front of him watched the angrier she became. She was practically vibrating with anger now. The fabric from Rey’s sleeve floated up between them. She saw the fabric and her eyes grew bigger.<br/>“No” she said<br/>“You can’t leave, everyone leaves!” Her voice started screeching and crackling.<br/>“I won’t be left here alone again!” she yelled.<br/>She reached up towards Ben and forced him into a painful kiss. The light from her belly traveling upward, into Bens mouth, and down his throat.<br/>suddenly Ben could breathe again. But it was short lived.<br/>“Ben!...” he heard echoing through his mind.<br/>All sound stopped. The woman imploded, her body scattering about into what looked like a galaxy of bright lights burning in the water.<br/>Ben could see Rey reaching for him in the silence and with a crash of noise he was pulled back, into the tar like floor that had trapped him. He could see the moment of his death, holding Rey, her voice, her sadness, his absence.<br/>The world disappeared and appeared as if stepping through a doorway.<br/>Ben was standing now, in a strange place. The walls around him were breathing, in and out. The breaths echoing infinitely, one after the other. <br/>In front of him he saw a wall of glass, a shadow hovering behind it. There was a heavy mist and a smell like rotting death that filled the space. Ben inspected his surroundings, there was only darkness.<br/>Ben heard footsteps, the hum of life...<br/>“Ben solo” a deep commanding voice said, “is that what you call yourself now?”<br/>A lightsaber ignited in a corner of the darkness. Kylo Ren’s lightsaber. The red reflecting off of the smooth glass wall and scattering about in the mist. Even the sound was familiar.<br/>Suddenly, Ben felt something heavy and cold in his hand. Ben looked down to inspect the new weight he felt in his grip. It was his mother’s lightsaber, but before he could think to use it, it was lifted away. <br/>The saber snapped open and the pieces inside of it were suspended into the air. Soon the lightsaber was torn apart, pieces flying every which way, impossible to find in the darkness. Ben released a sharp breath. “So much for that” he thought. <br/>“Hope is a dangerous thing” said the all to familiar voice echoing from the other side of the glass wall<br/>“you hoped, your mother wouldn’t send you away.”<br/>The deep voice said as he stepped into the light his blurred but recognizable figure glowing behind the foggy glass.<br/>Ben was looking at himself... no, at Kylo Ren.<br/>“You hoped, Luke would teach you to be, better.” Kylo Ren said sharply. His voice growing louder.<br/>“You HOPED, Vader would guide you through the dark, but he didn’t appear to you! Not even once!”<br/>Kylo Ren punched through the glass wall, grabbed Ben by his dark wavy hair, and pulled him through to the other side. <br/>He wasn’t gentle with Ben. Kylo lifted Ben up, and threw him back down so that he landed roughly on the rocky ground. Kylo wanted to hurt him, kill him.<br/>“You hoped!?...” Kylo Ren started with- a laugh.<br/>“That she would want you?!...” Ren used the force to lift Ben up, squeezing his throat until Ben squirmed and sputtered<br/>“But who would want a person like you!?<br/>Kylo Ren used his light saber to retrace the scar that was once on Ben’s face, neck, shoulder. Ben shouted out in pain, blood now dripping from his face. <br/>Kylo pulled Ben closer so that they were nearly nose to nose. The saber was precariously placed between them, only centimeters away from Bens face. Ben could hear it, feel it. Using his grip on Ben’s hair Kylo tried to pull Ben’s face closer to the beam of the saber, but Ben wide eyed and determined, wouldn’t budge. <br/>Instead Ben managed to grasp the saber himself with one hand. Kylo grunted at him, and pressed the beam at the hilt of his lightsaber into Ben’s arm.<br/>“You’re weak!” Kylo growled “just like your father! He didn’t even fight back!”<br/>Ben felt those words, his father... he had killed his father...<br/>Ben managed to use the force to press the beam of the saber through Kylo’s throat. Kylo Ren’s headless body collapsed, and the head rolled around on the ground until it was looking straight at Ben. <br/>The head was still laughing, and slowly the face changed, until Ben was looking at Han Solo...<br/>“You don’t deserve to be called MY SON” Han said<br/>The face changed again, Rey’s voice echoed through the room.<br/>“We all died because of you...” she said<br/>She closed her eyes and Rey’s headless body fell to the floor.<br/>A long breath escaped the lifeless head. Ben struggled to process what he had just seen. They were right. He was a coward, he killed his father, he killed them all.<br/>Then he felt the force again. Working on him, pulling him. She was reaching out to him again. He heard her calling for him, the real Rey this time. <br/>He saw her, standing in the rain screaming his name, reaching for him. He turned away...<br/>Did he deserve this... <br/>he didn’t know...<br/>Ben started walking away, death suited a person like him...<br/>“No” she screamed<br/>The floor opened beneath him, sinking into a hole of blackness he couldn’t escape from. He was sucked in.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>chapter 3</p><p>Rey coughed and coughed, trying to clear the water from her lungs. At least, that’s what it seemed like it was, it tasted funny and, it was thick, thicker than water... she thought. <br/>What had she been doing, did she sleepwalk... again?<br/>Rey had been seeing visions of Ben for weeks... months... this last one seemed soo real? But it couldn’t really have been real, could it? Perhaps she had wondered off somewhere, gotten into the troughs on lady Gartha’s moisture farm. A sweet old woman whom kept finding Rey asleep in the sand or fighting against her dreams in the night. That’s right, Rey thought, she had sleepwalked before. This was nothing different. At least this time she didn’t destroy anything. <br/>Rey stretched her arms and legs wearily. She was just tired, she hadn’t slept well for a long time, and her mind hadn’t been right either. Rey thought it best to sleep a bit more. Until morning at least. She didn’t even care about the dampness around her, her wet hair, nor had she noticed her torn sleeve.<br/>Even her nightmares were a break from the present reality.<br/>When Rey awoke in the morning, it was to the sound of someone outside the hut, shuffling around. <br/>This wasn’t abnormal, the first order was pretty much down to its last threads of defense, and now, their influence had dwindled on planets that were not deemed essential. The people had much more freedom and resources than ever before. A good thing and a bad thing, as archaic gang mentalities were now running strong attributing to an already chaotic order of things. <br/>As much as Rey tried to keep her part of the rebellion a secret, there were those who knew. And every morning she would find offerings upon her doorstep. If you could call it a doorstep at all. He home was basically the remnants of an old inoperable ship fashioned into a living space. This morning, it was fresh eggs fruit and meat, and at least a dozen rations of bread. A flower, and a toy figure of... herself. Rey sighed. She hated these figures, she hated being a “hero” when she felt nothing like a hero at all. <br/>She missed Ben, but every day at least one person could be seen or heard telling her story, his story. How evil and ruthless he was. It was difficult for her to watch without protest... Kylo was evil... but Ben... they would never get the chance to know Ben. <br/>She remembered touching his hand, when their bond had brought them together. She saw him, not the ruthless evil killing machine, but the scared, lost, young boy. The rebellion had taken a toll on that young boy, a toll that no one could ever really understand. Not like she understood. Kylo Ren wasn’t created by the darkness within Ben, he was created by... <br/>Rey interrupted her own thoughts, there were things to do, and she couldn’t give in to these horrible thoughts and feelings. She knew those feelings would be waiting for her, later that night as she was trying to sleep, or the next morning. The next day... <br/>She wouldn’t dwell on this any longer. <br/>If she did, she might stop moving altogether. <br/>Rey pocketed the figurine. She squinted at the sunlight. It was warm, she thought. It was, nice...<br/>Rey gathered what she decided not to keep and took it with her. Finn was going to be in the village today, along with Poe and Chewie. She missed them all so very much... but there was also this confusion in seeing Finn again. <br/>She knew Finn had feelings for her, but Rey, Rey didn’t know how to feel... <br/>about anything. <br/>She had lost almost everyone she cared about... <br/>even Ben...<br/>And when she decided to bury what she had left of them, BEN WASN’T THERE. <br/>Rey thought, that the force would have accepted Ben after the sacrifice he had made... but no matter how hard she tried she could not reach him. She couldn’t see him at all. She was left with only dreams of him...<br/>some of them were more like nightmares.<br/>Rey forced one foot in front of the other, as her emotions and uncertainties pulled her every which way. One thing at a time, she thought to herself. With a robotic casualness she secured her hood, climbed onto her speeder, and made her way to the meeting place with Finn and her friends.<br/>Rey saw Poe and Chewie, standing in front of the millennium falcon. Her view of it was slightly restricted by the fabric market tents and decorative flagged lines that were strung from shop to shop. Sand blew up towards Rey as she waved at Chewie, who was enthusiastically gesturing towards her, and probably wanted a big hug. She guarded her eyes. The wind was especially bad this time of year. <br/>Rey had already given a great deal of her rations to the children at the other end of the market. She carried only 3 now, one for each of her friends, but as the wind stirred up the sand once more Rey had to use both hands to cover her face. She dropped one of the rations she was holding. The wind and the sand made it hard to see, and Rey struggled to look for what she had dropped. <br/>Rey let out a frustrated groan “uhg! This wind” <br/>Finn popped out from between one of the tents, grabbing her by the arm. He held up the lost ration to Rey. <br/>“Eh-ehrm, Hey Rey” he said awkwardly.<br/>Rey felt as is he were seriously invading her personal space, especially considering how conflicted she had been feeling as of late. Rey pulled her arm away gently, forcing a smile. She was trying to be polite, but her actions certainly didn’t go unnoticed by Poe, or Chewie. <br/>Finn looked at the ration, frowning. <br/>“Do you actually like these?” He asked. <br/>Rey quickly grabbed the ration out of his hands, looking at Poe and Chewie whose expressions seemed to agree with Finns dislike of the food item. <br/>She opened her mouth and closed it... <br/>then she opened it again. <br/>“the- they’re for me! who said you were getting any!?” Rey snapped <br/>Poe giggled, but casually coughed to hide it. <br/>Rey continued, walking past Finn to Chewie whom she was the most excited to see. She gave him a big hug. He smelled like, well, Chewie, and not at all great, but his fur felt comforting, nonetheless. <br/>“I missed you Chewie!” She said, thinking of Han, Luke and Leia.<br/>And Ben... <br/>Sad emotions started in on her again... but at least she wasn’t completely alone now. She pushed them away, but still ached for all the people who weren’t there.... <br/>Chewie started pointing towards the ration, he was enthusiastically asking to have one, she smiled and gave him all three. <br/>Suddenly Finn was behind her again, practically vibrating with intent. Rey could feel his intention, and it was the last thing she wanted to deal with. <br/>Finn put his hand on Rey’s shoulder. <br/>“Rey-“<br/>Rey cut him off <br/>“Chewie” she gave him a sweet side hug as she turned to head inside of the ship. <br/>“Let’s go somewhere” <br/>They stepped inside leaving Finn wide eyed and disappointed... Poe was staring at them both. Poe put his arm around Finn sympathetically.<br/>He yelled back towards the ship.<br/>“We’re going to get some supplies while we’re here, hang tight for a while” and clicked his tongue in annoyance.<br/>Shaking Finn out of his daze slightly, Poe said, “maybe next time... when the mood is right” and smiled at Finn. <br/>They walked off together, joking and muttering as if nothing had happened.<br/>Rey sat down inside of the falcon, burdened with inner conflict. Would she lose Finn as a friend? Couldn’t things just stay the same? She knew that rejecting him would leave him devastated, but she wasn’t ready to move on from the past... this was all too much. <br/>Chewie whined at her<br/>“I know” Rey said “I’m just not -“<br/>Chewie let out a low disapproving protest. <br/>“You’re right” she said. Her voice cracked a bit.<br/>Chewie saw how she was feeling. He started impersonating Han, then Luke, then Leia, then stomped around like Vader breathing heavily into his mask.<br/>Rey giggled, showing just a tinge of sadness. It was nice to see Chewie again, she hadn’t lost everyone... Chewie then pointed at her like Han would-have and winked. <br/>Poe and Finn returned to the ship and boarded it with enough supplies to last a month. Finn awkwardly rushed back and forth past Rey putting some things away below and securing other things. Ray looked around... not sure what to do with herself. <br/>Then Rey noticed Bb8. He was sitting there in the corner, unmoving, when typically, he would be beeping in protest, at least a little. <br/>“What’s wrong with Bb8?” Rey asked <br/>Poe paused for a minute, but Finn kept moving.<br/>“Oh, he’s just resting” Poe said<br/>Poe pounded on Bb8’s exterior, it echoed like a hollow metal sphere would.<br/>“Hey! Wake up” Poe said <br/>BB8 let out an exhausting series of protesting beeps. <br/>“He needs some new parts” Poe said “after that he’ll be back to his old self”<br/>Finn kept silent, he continued to move back and forth... but he was running out of things to do.<br/>Poe strapped himself into the passenger’s seat and gestured for Finn to do the same. <br/>Chewie whined again.<br/>“So where do you wanna go?” Poe asked<br/>Rey stepped in front of chewie and strapped herself into the pilot’s seat.<br/>“I’m driving, you’ll see” she said. <br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>Rey had decided to take them to Ahch-To. <br/>Not only was it beautifully green, but there was soo Much water, and the Jedi temple, she thought, might provide her with a bit of closure... or at least some peace.<br/>The memories of Luke here overwhelmed her, as well as darker memories. The dark place beneath the island. It hadn’t given her answers last time, but still she felt she needed to go there. <br/>She was missing something, something vital. <br/>Rey landed clumsily. Chewie protested.<br/>“I know, I know” Rey said. Chewie smiled.<br/>Poe immediately spoke up. <br/>“Well...” Poe said “is anyone hungry?” He asked. <br/>Chewie loudly confirmed his hunger. <br/>Finn took his que to go down below, get something, and return promptly. He was Holding a cloth bag full of who knows what. Rey, who was also hungry moved to the back of the ship where there was much more space and sat in the floor of the ship. Rey sat down and accepted a paper wrapped item from Finn. Finn also handed out similar but smaller items to chewie and Poe. Chewie frowned at Finn, disappointed in getting the smaller portion. <br/>“Well” said Poe awkwardly “I think chewie and I had better take a break in the greener area over there” he pointed outside of the ship, hinting that he had “business” to do first. <br/>Poe winked at Finn. <br/>“come on buddy” Poe nudged Chewie out of the ship, without vocal protest but rather strong looks of disapproval. <br/>Finn sat across from Rey, her cross legged, and watching painfully as chewie walked out. <br/>“You should eat” Finn said softly, “I wasn’t sure what you wanted so I hope you like ...whatever it is” <br/>Rey found herself smiling, he didn’t even know what he got from the market. this will be interesting, she thought. <br/>She opened the browned paper like material. Inside was a dish called “lakit meleiu” a sweet egg based dish, something only the richest of Tatooine could ever afford. <br/>“Finn!” Rey exclaimed.<br/>She looked down at Finns meal, he had common dried slop, that was about a step up from her typical rations. <br/>“I can’t accept this, you should eat it” she pushed the lakit closer to Finn. <br/>“No” He said <br/>“You always eat the same things” Finn was starting on the same rant Rey had heard a thousand times before “why do you like this food and that, it’s soo bad, blah blah blah...” <br/>Rey was zoning out. Thinking. <br/>Thinking about the island, would she be able to find anything here? <br/>Answers, <br/>Luke kept the texts here, maybe something had been left behind...<br/>“Rey” finn said, “listen...”<br/>Rey just responded with a “um hmm” she was still thinking, not really listening to Finn at all.<br/>What if she reached out to Ben here, in a place where the force was naturally soo strong. She didn’t even need a map to find it, it called to her. So what about Ben? Would it call to him?<br/>“Rey” Finn said again.<br/>Rey was still thinking. Maybe she could finally reach him here. “Ben...” she thought out. <br/>“Rey” Finn said again, the rest of his words were faded “I... Rey, “ <br/>Rey was staring at Finn but she wasn’t hearing a word. She thought about the temple on the island, seeing Luke in the mountains. Her first time hand to hand with Ben. <br/>“Ben!” <br/>She sent out the thought, hoping it would reach him. <br/>“Ben...” she thought out again, automatically lifting her hand from her lap. <br/>Soon things started to float around her, dust, pebbles left on the ship, the lakit, even a single tear from Rey’s left eye. <br/>The next thing she knew, Finn was kissing her. Everything fell to the ground. <br/>the lakit had fallen on Finns head and neck. Red and orange staining the collar of his cream-colored shirt. BB8 whirred and beeped in warning, and a port next to him sparked loudly. Bb8 jumped and protested some more. <br/>Rey stood up and walked out of the millennium falcon. The others watched her as she made her departure towards the rocky area ahead. She was angry, confused, and numb.<br/>“Where are you going?” Poe asked. <br/>“For a walk!” Rey yelled back sharply, before she started running. <br/>Suddenly Finn came sprinting out of the ship, the lakit thoroughly smeared all over himself and even on his face. Poe starred, and chewie raised his hands in protest at Finn.<br/>“I know!” Finn said sharply before heading back into the ship. Finn was practically pulling his hair out with frustration. <br/>“Damnit” he whispered to himself.<br/>He bent down to clean up the mess on the floor, and noticed Rey’s lightsaber placed delicately near where Rey was sitting.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>Rey stomped through the rocky terrain of the island, that is until she started running. For most people her path would have been difficult, but the force and her frustration fueled her. She was practically floating step by step, like an animal running across the surface of the water, without even leaving a single ripple. Rey didn’t know where she intended on going, but she kept moving, and before long it began to rain, heavily. <br/>Between the sounds of the rain drops Rey could hear something. The rustle of the leaves, the ping of water upon water, water upon stone, water upon skin. She heard whispers. Some of them in a language she couldn’t understand.<br/>“DZWOROKKA YUN NYASHQUWAI, NWIQUWAI. WOTOK TSAWAKMIDWANOTTOI, YUNTOK HYARUTMIDWANOTTOI”<br/>(Credit) https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Sith_(language)<br/>“There are always two” whipered a faint understanding in the back or Rey’s mind.<br/>Eyes wide with mystery Rey went on automatic, and kept running, until she just<br/>... stopped...<br/>Before she knew it she was beneath the island. <br/>Soaking wet... <br/>how long had she been there? <br/>She didn’t know. <br/>In front of her was the strange reflective surface she encountered not long ago. Whispers hung in the air, the room was breathing, chanting. <br/>“Choono slalem denni tay'lori olee-ay. Lucheno vadem klavlane. Blenay vedi nalem koreem. Blenay vedi nalem koreem. Villos susko kono lamal! Vlemon tagoo!”<br/>(Credit)<br/>https://starwars.fandom.com/w…/Chant_of_Resurrection/Legends<br/>The voices surrounded Ray. What were they, what did they mean? Why was she hearing them?<br/>“Rey!” Said a deep thundering voice. <br/>As if the island recognized the voice too,<br/>thunder and lightning crashed above making the island tremor. <br/>Rey sat on the ground, frozen, staring at the reflective wall before her.<br/>Staring at the shadow hovering behind it. <br/>With a thump a hand pounded on the other side and smeared a substance across it. <br/>It looked like a shadow... <br/>his shadow...<br/>“You can save me Rey” said the voice <br/>In her grief, Rey stilled. <br/>As if she were entranced with the voice and shadows before her. She drew in the sand at her feet , until her fingers became raw. <br/>Rey lost all sense of time.<br/>The thunder crashed. <br/>Rey heard a far-off cry.<br/>It was Finn...<br/>He was out there calling for her in this storm. <br/>He’s not far from here, she thought.<br/>Suddenly Rey heard the hush and humm of a lightsaber. In the corner of the barely illuminated room.<br/>She saw it. <br/>A red glow.<br/>For a moment she felt hope, could it be that Ben survived? Could he be here reaching out to her, finally? But then reality started in, Kylo Ren wielded that lightsaber.<br/>Rey stood, could the Sith have force ghosts too? She pondered.<br/>“No” said the deep voice<br/>Perhaps she was dreaming again, or rather, stuck in a nightmare.<br/>She heard her name again, and then, a splash in the distance.<br/>But there was no time to think about that now. Rey reached for her lightsaber. It wasn’t there!?<br/>Kylo Ren stepped out of the darkness...<br/>“Oh I am very real” he said “I’m the only part of, Ben, that could survive”<br/>Kylo smiled evilly...<br/>“You can’t be real” she said in protest<br/>This couldn’t be real, it’s not real.<br/>Kylo lifted his lightsaber and held it close enough to Rey to burn the skin just under her ear. <br/>Wrapping his other hand around her throat he leaned in. Inches away from her, She could feel his cold ghostly breath on her face. <br/>He whispered <br/>“Real enough?” <br/>Even as a whisper, His voice thundered louder than the storm above. He was the only thing she heard, the only thing she saw. <br/>Suddenly Rey heard another strong hum and whirr. <br/>It was Finn with her lightsaber<br/>“Rey...” he yelled “get out of here, you can’t do this!” <br/>That statement ignited a mixture of uncertainty, anger, and sadness in Rey. She backed up pondering what she should do. Run? No. Fight? Fight... <br/>Finn and kylo were toe to toe, and oddly enough, Finn was winning. They struggled, dragging their lightsabers against the wall of the room a dozen times. The chanting grew stronger. Finn swung cutting off Kylo’s wielding hand. Kylo’s breaths were heavy and he Backed up against the glossy wall behind him. Finn picked up the red lightsaber and made one last strike. <br/>It was meant to go through Kylo Ren’s chest, but as Finn lunged, Kylo disappeared compleetly. <br/>the saber went through the strange wall behind him. <br/>It cracked like glass, strange sith symbols forming on its surface. The chanting became louder. Rey hadn’t moved...<br/>When did she become so helpless, she thought...<br/>The storm outside became more and more angry, rain was pouring in and Rey knew they had to leave before the lower part of the island flooded. <br/>“Come on ” Rey said <br/>The two slowly made their way through the storm until it finally let up, right before they made it back to the ship. Rey didn’t even stop to rest. Finn ran up ahead hoping to get her attention, and a chance to actually talk.<br/>“Rey!” Finn yelled “hey! ... stop”<br/>Rey walked right past him…<br/>Finn grabbed her by the arm, but instantly let go when he saw the look on her face. <br/>“Just...” Finn took a breath ”... stop” he said slowly “please...”<br/>Rey turned around and looked him straight in the eyes.<br/>She didn’t say a word.<br/>“I” Finn stuttered “I’m sorry ok... I was”<br/>Ray held up her hand as if to say “enough”<br/>And then… <br/>Poe chimed in<br/>“hey, look, I’ve gotta get back to the new republic, I have work to do, if you wanna have a your little ‘spat’ then you’d better do it on the ship, or stay here your choice” <br/>Chewie, looking an awful lot like Han gave a shrug to them both.<br/>Rey turned around to face Poe and Chewie, a strong deceptive smile on her face..<br/>“I’m staying” Rey said, “I’ll be fine”.<br/>“But... Fine!” Finn said. <br/>There was some hesitation in his voice, but she wasn’t going to talk to him, not today.<br/>“let’s go” he said to Poe who was staring at both of them.<br/>Chewie hung around looking sympathetically at Rey. <br/>“Don’t worry about me” Rey said as she gave chewie a hug. <br/>“I’ve got all the Jedi with me” she said with a smile “go on”<br/>Rey didn’t even bother talking to Finn about what had just happened... he wouldn’t understand anyways...<br/>Rey spun around on her right foot and headed toward the Jedi temple. <br/>It was time to relive old lessons, she decided. Maybe then she would get somewhere. Rey halted at the rock where Luke first taught her to use the force.<br/>Where she was drawn to the darkness...<br/>She removed her small ration pack and her lightsaber that she had retrieved back from Finn but moments ago.<br/>Finn didn’t leave right away, he told Poe that he needed to do something first. That chanting, he needed to know what it was. So, he followed the sound to a dark and powerful part of the island. Where the trees and greenery slowly died off, even the animals looked worse for wear.<br/>Feeling something in the force, he turned around…<br/>Before him he saw a woman, with long tangled hair and grey lifeless skin. Simultaneously she looked both very young and also, ancient. A ragged red dress clung to her old and damp. She smelled like death itself.<br/>Her voice started out sounding sweet the like voice of a little girl but ended creepily with a cackle. <br/>“The walls speak in this place” she said. <br/>Everything about this girl was offsetting, from her shadowed face, to the redness of her lips. Finn felt himself being both pulled towards her and wanting to run away. <br/>Finn heard someone call his name behind him. He hesitantly turned to look, but no one was there. When he turned back towards where the girl was standing. She was gone. <br/>It was time to leave.<br/>Once in the ship Poe asked “where have you been, what happened?”<br/>Finn thought about what happened, when he finally got to Rey, she was being attacked by Kylo.<br/>At least it looked like Kylo Ren, but to Finn something seemed off. What’s worse, she seemed happy to see him... not Finn... but the man who was attacking her…<br/>Finn tried to answer Poe after a long silence... but the words came out brief and slightly tangled <br/>“it’s not me, I’m not the one she wants” he said<br/>Rey was a Jedi, she didn’t need Finn there to watch out for her. It was time to leave, Finn thought.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>Rey could hear them as they took off. She was trying to focus, and that wasn’t easy given the events of the past couple of days.<br/>She could even still hear the chant on the wind.<br/>“Choono slalem denni tay'lori olee-ay. Lucheno vadem klavlane. Blenay vedi nalem koreem. Blenay vedi nalem koreem. Villos susko kono lamal! Vlemon tagoo!”<br/>What did it mean?<br/>She had spent hours meditating, and briefly some training with her light saber, hoping to regain focus with a bit of physical activity. <br/>The day was almost done, and Rey was almost ready to give up. Every other noise was making it impossible to focus. <br/>but for the next few moments at least, Rey would keep trying.<br/>She lifted her hand, trying to focus on the feeling of the chilly breeze between her fingers, the small hot ray of the sunset that caressed the base of her thumb. <br/>“Be with me... she whispered aloud. Internally searching for Ben.<br/>Banishing thoughts of Kylo Ren ...<br/>She exhaled, she could see him slightly, but was it a vision, a memory? Or maybe a dream? He was fighting against himself.<br/>How symbolic, she thought.<br/>Ben Solo against Kylo Ren. <br/>A lifelong struggle…<br/>She reached for him, he looked at her... <br/>right at her...<br/>and her mind went blank<br/>She waited...<br/>Blank...<br/>She wanted to keep trying <br/>But then she noticed a slight rumble ringing in her ears, and a glaring red light peeking through her closed eyelids.<br/>This wasn’t the sunset.<br/>what could be so bright?<br/>She opened her eyes. <br/>She was blinded by light and dust. <br/>A destructive red array collided with the island.<br/>it was giant enough to destroy the entire planet. <br/>Just before the destruction hit, and a cloud of dust quickly rolled towards her, she felt a strong grip on her arm pulling her elsewhere. Her mind went blank, white, peaceful…<br/>When she awoke, she was nowhere near the island, or the planet for that matter. <br/>She was standing right where Ben had died...<br/>On Exegol…</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 4<br/>It was cold... sooo cold<br/>There was a disturbance in the force.<br/>Ben could feel it, thousands upon thousands of lifeforms dying all at once.<br/>One loss in particular felt close, like the loss of his father, his mother, or even Snoke.<br/>It couldn’t be Rey, could it? He thought.<br/>He knew that she was still alive. Right this minute he couldn’t reach out to her, but he could feel her heartbeat, as if it’s rhythm lived within his Adam’s apple. It thumped, vibrating throughout him like a shuttering breath of awareness. The beating was strong enough that Ben hesitated to breathe or swallow for fear that the beating might stop with his movement. Ben removed his borrowed stormtrooper helmet, it smelled like the dead man he had removed from it.<br/>Ben had to do a number of disgusting things to get here. For what seemed like hours, Ben literally dug himself up and out of the darkness that engulfed him. He had emerged from the mud and dirt, like a determined seed reaching for the light.<br/>Upon emerging from the hot mud he had nothing but swamp water to cleanse himself with, and clothes that recently adorned a dead man, to wear. He was fortunate that one ship had been left on Exegol untouched. If not a bit damaged.<br/>Ben knew that he had nowhere, no home to return to, he was either a monster, or a traitor. At least, to most. So what purpose could his existence possibly have now? Ben had dwelled on this question for quite some time.<br/>“May the force guide you...” he heard echoing in his head<br/>“She’s ok” Ben said to himself.<br/>The connection was weaker than before, but somehow he knew, she was alive.<br/>In his oddly fitting trooper uniform, He walked down the long clean and hardly manned hallways. Prepared to meet his old generals, or what was left of them. What were they up to? Who could have caused so much death? Did they even have any weapons left?<br/>Ben was armed with just the force... what exactly was his plan? He honestly didn’t have one...<br/>Ben stopped at the conference room door, ready to kill as many as he could as fast as he could. It’s the least he could do, he thought. After all, There was no atonement for all that they claimed he had done...and all that he had really done....Well, he didn’t think he could really atone for that either.<br/>“Live, you must” said an unfamiliar voice in his head. “Your path, will not be easy” said another.<br/>Ben heard other voices. This time beyond the door in front of him, yelling, arguing.... laughing....<br/>“She just masicurred half the galaxy, including a great many of our remaining men!!!” Someone yelled angrily. <br/>“We should kill her now!!!”<br/>He heard the laugh again, it sounded familiar. yet not one of his old generals. Someone new?<br/>Ben pushed in his access code quickly, hoping it still worked, and mentally braced himself for a fight. The door opened with a woosh.<br/>Upon seeing him, a familiar pale female used the force to crack the necks of the higher ranking storm troopers holding onto her. Bloodlust in her eyes. She smiled. Her dress was in tatters, her hair long but caked with mud. Her face cold, beautiful, and dirty. She looked like a broken doll, that had been left in the dirt. Ben had seen her face before...<br/>“Well” she said “if it isn’t OUR supreme leader, Kylo Ren.”<br/>She looked straight at him, with her glowing brown eyes. <br/>She smiled, but his generals looked both fearful and greatful, and as if they had seen a ghost.<br/>“S-supreme leader” he said “you survived!”<br/>As cowardly as they always were...<br/>Ben adopted his former demeanor, terrifying and monstrous, he used the force to slam the girl backwards. Ben flinched internally, but stepped forward keeping his eyes on the girl. She was younger than before, he noticed.<br/>“Yes” he said, Kylo’s voice echoed, its powerful timbre invoking fear throughout the room. He slammed his helmet down on the table in front of him, with a resounding smack. The doors closed behind him.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>Finn and the others felt the disturbance too. It wasn’t long before a broadcast started sounding off from the new republics central base.<br/>Static “we—-bein—-atta—-first—-order —-wepon—— ten or twenty plan——-“ more static. Over the static they could hear screams and cries for help, inbetween more panic, yelling, and finally silence.<br/>“Something is wrong” Finn said, panic frigid in his voice.<br/>“Ya think” responded Poe <br/>Chewie moaned in horror and pointed out the window. There were streaks of red flaring through the universe, in all directions, 30 or 40 of them at once. It appeared that the first order had acquired a new weapon, and they had wiped out half the galaxy. some planets already destroyed, shattered. Shards escaping from what were once solid spheres of blue and green.<br/>One of the terrifying red streaks was headed right in Rey’s direction. But by the time any of them could react, it had already hit the planet, waves of energy struck the ship. The crew could hardly hold onto their seats.<br/>“Rey!” Finn yelled <br/>He didn’t know what to do. Panic rose in his mouth, he could hardly breathe.<br/>Fighting the tremors that knocked everyone else off of their feet, Finn took control of the ship.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>Rey could hear the whispers of a thousand voices cursing her through the walls. Screams of death and fury filled the hallways and bounced off of the echoing stone structures. The smell of rotting corpses, of Palpatine, and his deformed clone body, were still ripe enough to cling to the slimy stones that embodied the throne room. He was but cloth and stinking skeleton hanging from his mechanical structures now. There was barely enough flesh left to rot there. Rey looked, at the ground where Ben once lay.<br/>His clothing was still there. Dusty, untouched, devoid of his body.<br/>Beside it, she saw something else. A piece of torn fabric.<br/>For some reason, the fabric in its familiarity caught Rey’s eye. Why did it look so familiar?<br/>Rey picked it up.<br/>She pondered at the fabric, it’s rough formed texture, the light grey color. It felt soft, comforting, known. She lifted it up slightly. Then she saw it, it matched her sleeve perfectly.<br/>But how?<br/>Rey inspected herself, her sleeve was indeed torn, but she didn’t remember when that had happened. <br/>Except....<br/>Suddenly Rey realized that she hadn’t been dreaming that night. That everything that happened was real. He was real, the water was real. That strange place... was real. Then that meant...?<br/>It dawned on her that Ben might be here, on exegol, alive!<br/>Rey spun in a circle, her heart was pounding now. Alive, she repeated in her head.<br/>...Reach out to him here, she thought.<br/>Reach out, did she even remember how that worked. For the most part, their connections had been accidental and so far she had very little success forcing such a connection, but she tried anyways....<br/>“Ben...”<br/>In answer.... nothing....<br/>Rey sank to the ground. <br/>What was the point of all of this? she thought.<br/>She pondered for what seemed like hours. Days... weeks<br/>She didn’t know.<br/>Exegol was such a strange place, all sense of location and time, seemed to slurr into a whirlpool of darkness. At times she didn’t know up, from down, day from night. She felt as if her mind were suffocating. Stuffed into a space to small or too full, stressed and exhausted.<br/>Her mind was growing weak, her fingers cold and numb. It was so cold here, she thought. She reached down to touch the fabric of Bens shirt on the ground, it was still warm she thought. Really warm.<br/>Almost like he had just taken it off...<br/>Rey picked it up and held it in her hands, around her fingers, she swore her eyelashes had frozen over parts of her skin felt scaly, cold and painfully numb.<br/>But the shirt still soo warm, it smelled like him. Alluring her, like the shock of a warm touch.<br/>“Rey...” <br/>a deep voice echoed through the room<br/>Rey lifted her head slightly, but with very little energy. She Peeled her eyes open, it was getting hard to move.<br/>“Rey, what are you doing” the voice said disapprovingly<br/>“It’s cold” she said snarkly. “And where are you?” She said half expecting not to get an answer.<br/>She could see him now. Kneeling in front of her. “I was here” he said looking around . Ben ran his fingers across the ground moving the pebbles beneath his black gloved fingers ever so slightly. He paused when he noticed the piece of torn fabric next to her. His shirt in her hand.<br/>“But where are you?” Ben asked. His voice reverberated, echoing inside of Rey’s tired mind. The sound gave her energy.<br/>“What do you mean?” she asked slowly<br/>She could hear cheering in the background, she tried to see his surroundings but she couldn’t. <br/>He was wearing all black, like she remembered him, covered in thick stuff fabric. She heard more cheering. Rey lifted her head. But what thoughts she had were lost to exhaustion, the very moment she formed them. It was soo cold and she was soo tired.<br/>“You’re not on exegol” he said...his voice deep and distorted. “This is...” he stopped short.<br/>Ben looked around, to him the walls were transparent, ghostly even, Rey was falling asleep, and he sensed that she didn’t have much time left.<br/>He removed his glove and put his hand on her shoulder, she jumped slightly and looked up at him with tired eyes.<br/>Touching Rey had changed everything that Ben had seen before him. Ben saw only darkness now, stars, floating fragments of stone, water, fire. He studied Rey, she was burned slightly along the side of her face, her shoulder, and her left arm. One of her legs was visibly broken, droplets of blood were floating over them both. Her eyelashes were frozen, and frost was hovering about her skin.<br/>Behind her we’re the fragments of a temple... some of it still intact like a floating island devoid of any planetary structure. He could see stars behind her but they were distorted, as if he were looking through a broken window, or warped glass.<br/>Ben looked behind him. The millennium falcon was almost in pieces. They were so close.<br/>So why weren’t they helping her!? Ben thought angrily.<br/>Suddenly a small circular robot exited the ship, heading towards them, but before it got anywhere close, it hit something and shattered with a series of sparks and explosions. Something was stopping them from getting to Rey.<br/>Ben still didn’t know where she was. <br/>He looked around, at the stars, looking for anything, any planet or constellation he could recognize. Then he noticed a constellation of stars he remembered, they looked like sith letters. The word for fate.<br/>“I know where you are” he said<br/>She didn’t respond.<br/>“Rey!” Ben yelled, panicked<br/>He put his hand respectfully flat below her collar bone, she wasn’t breathing. Her heartbeat was growing slower. Ben cupped her chin in his other hand. His nose and lips inches from hers, he could feel how cold her skin had become. Ben closed his eyes, and with the force he told her to breath.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>Reys mind suddenly found clarity, as she was released from the swirls of darkness numbing her mind on exegol... or wherever she was. She heard ben, telling her to breathe, felt the warmth of his hand on her face, but he wasn’t anywhere near her.<br/>Instead he was standing at the edge of a tall platform. The walls and floors were decorated in red and black, thousands of red clad soldiers were cheering below where he stood. She couldn’t see all of them, but she could hear them. Rey took a step forward.<br/>“Where... am I” she whispered to herself.<br/>Ben spoke to her using the force.<br/>“You should breath now” he said his voice demanding.<br/>Ben turned around, and walked towards her, through her, beyond her. He didn’t see her, or recognize the depth of her presence.<br/>“I’ll be there soon” Ben said<br/>Ben didn’t look at her, and before the connection broke, Rey saw him, picking up Kylo’s helmet, it’s angry red cracks glowing in Rey’s mind.<br/>The world around her started to warp again, Rey grew tired and heavy. Her mind was lost, as if she were trapped in a never ending force vision.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>Finn and Poe were thinking. Desperately thinking. Both of them were covered in sweat, and soot and the ship was moments away from giving in. Clunking and whining. Smoke nearly smothering the both of them in the main cabin. Poe flipped a switch and a fan turned on, sucking away some of the pollution. Loud beeping annoyingly bouncing off of the walls of the ship. They were in trouble.<br/>“We need to turn around!” Poe said “head back to base!”<br/>“NO!” Yelled Finn, he was desperate. <br/>“We can’t leave her here!”<br/>Finn felt deep regret, regret for pushing Rey too hard. He was only thinking about his wants, his needs, not once did he consider everything she had been through. Everything Rey had lost, and now, he may never get the chance to speak to her again.<br/>Rey was trapped out there, Amongst the rubble of a planet that was just destroyed. miraculously she was still in one piece. But... no one could survive out there for THIS long. Not even a Jedi. Finn was grieving now, nearly a couple of days had passed, and the ship had taken on soo much damage the he wasn’t sure they would even make it... anywhere.<br/>The rubble of the island gravitated around itself, as if a force were keeping it, what was left of it, in tact. Rey looked as if she were sleeping, floating amongst the rubble. Her skin was pale, and shined with the frost that continued to grow there.<br/>Finn punched the side of the ship, blood dropped from his hand and he didn’t even try to comfort himself. Chewie was sitting, silent, Poe. Poe just watched, he cared for Rey too, but he’d experienced soo much death already, he knew they needed to move on.<br/>“We need to-“ Poe started<br/>“I KNOW!” Finn yelled<br/>“I know ...” Finn repeated softly<br/>Finn was clinging to an idea “organa could.-“ he whispered<br/>Poe snapped at Finn “yeah well, she was out there for minutes NOT DAYS, she knew the ways of the force! What do you know!? You go out there and you will die!”<br/>Finn didn’t know anything, Finn hadn’t learned anything, for the most part Finn ran away from a fight. Finn was trying to be better, to be like everyone else, to be brave. But what was he, compared to all of his friends? A coward, Finn thought to himself... “I can’t help anyone”<br/>Chewie suddenly moaned loudly. <br/>Ships were approaching. First there was a Ty whisper, then an entire fleet.<br/>“Those are the remaining ships of the first order.” Poe said confused<br/>“What are they doing here?” He asked<br/>Chewie moaned again...<br/>And they watched as the impossible happened<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>“Supreme leader” said one of Kylo’s generals over the ty whisper’s communication system “what exactly is your plan?”<br/>The supreme leader replied angrily<br/>“Surround their ship, and prepare to receive the girl.” Kylo Ren commanded<br/>In his mind He connected with Rey again. <br/>“Breathe” Ben commanded, or rather he begged.<br/>She was getting far to cold, each breath she took filled Ben with excruciating pain. <br/>Ben coughed and braced himself. He needed to move faster. The ship wouldn’t make it through whatever force or shield was surrounding Rey. Ben got as close as he could, and then overrided the ships system. He was going to exit the ship. If his mother could survive, then so could he. Ben opened the hatch and allowed himself to float. Every alarm started to go off. The sound echoed in Bens ears, even in the coldness of space.<br/>Ben looked at his gloved hands, and then looked at Rey. Using the force Ben propelled himself towards Rey, his movement was fast and strong. Until he was stopped by an invisible wall, energy waves radiated from his impact and rattled the ships behind him. The gloves on his hands began to shred and float away.<br/>“What are you doing!?” He heard broadcasting inside of his helmet.<br/>General Skew (a rather new addition) found himself flung across the room. The supreme leaders voice echoed loudly through the ship.<br/>“Stop wasting time, capture the rest of them!” He commanded<br/>Ben promptly took of his helmet. He then reared back and used all his strength to slam it into the surface of the invisible wall. Ben watched as his helmet shattered into black and red shards of cold metal floating quickly away from its impact point, glittering By the light of the stars around them.<br/>Ben reached out to Rey, his lungs were starting to burn. The cold was setting in.<br/>“Rey”... he said “let me in”<br/>His voice echoed within her mind, bold and soft, commanding, and yet unsure.<br/>A wave of energy radiated from Rey bursting through the invisible wall, sending the ships a few meters backwards. Sending Ben backwards. Every stone shattered and floated away. Some of them collided with the fleet of ships behind Ben, causing a good deal of damage. The falcon was hit too. Ben flinched, Han wouldn’t have liked that, he thought.<br/>Ben used the force again, to pull himself towards Rey, he moved swiftly and slowly. Ben delicately collected her frigid body in his arms, willing her to be warm, taking note of her heartbeat. To his supprize her body relaxed and her skin began to thaw, but Ben grew ever colder. The ice affixed to her eyelashes flaked away and they fluttered open, searching for him as if she couldn’t see him. Ben put is hand on her cheek, and she stopped moving.<br/>“I’m here” Bens words echoed into her mind.<br/>Ben called upon the force once more to carry her back to the main ship, leaving his ty whisper behind him.<br/>As soon as they boarded. Three medical droids and a staff medic stabilized Rey in a hyperoxygenated chamber of slick white carbonate. She flinched as the machine punched tubes into her, supplying her body with fluids.<br/>Ben was struggling to stand but he didn’t want them to see it so he knew he needed to leave quickly.<br/>“Take the girl to be stabilized” one of his generals started to speak but Kylo Ren gave him a look of warning.<br/>“Take the ship! I want them alive!” He commanded, driving his anger into his voice.<br/>The supreme leader strode off, but not before flinging another medical droid against the wall for getting in his way.<br/>Ben rushed back to his room as casually as he could and as soon as his chamber doors closed behind him, he collapsed to the floor. If he showed weakness now, he would lose control. Of everything. His lungs burned, not only for oxygen, but with the pain of being practically frozen from the inside. His eyes burned, they too felt as if they had been frozen over. Ben coughed and coughed, until he heard a voice from the dark interior of his room.<br/>A shadow was sitting on the bed.<br/>“You know,” the girl said casually, dressed in one of his generals uniforms “if you want them to think you’re a god, you might want to be a little less obvious about the girl”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i suffer from a TBI and a writing/communication disability... and i write this on my phone. if i make a mistake feel free to bring it up the point is for me to get better ;)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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